France’s top diplomat said the government rejects any attempts to use Quentin Delanque’s death for “political ends”.
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Published February 22, 2026
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrault said U.S. Ambassador Charles Kushner would be summoned over recent statements by the U.S. embassy regarding the killing of a French far-right activist in the southeastern city of Lyon this month.
“We are going to summon the U.S. ambassador to France because he has commented on this tragedy. … It concerns the community of nations,” Barot told French newspaper Le Monde and public broadcasters France Inter and France Info on Sunday.
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“We reject any attempt to exploit this tragedy for political purposes,” he added.
The Ministry of European Affairs and Foreign Affairs did not say when Mr. Kushner, the father of President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, would be subpoenaed.
The murder of Quentin Delanque, 23, underscores the heightened political tensions ahead of next year’s presidential election.
President Emmanuel Macron, who is ineligible to run due to term limits, called for peace on Saturday as about 3,000 people took part in a march in Lyon organized by far-right groups to pay their respects to Delanque.
Delanque died from head injuries after being punched on the sidelines of a demonstration in Lyon on February 12 against an appearance by a politician from the left-wing party France Indomitable (LFI).
His killing sparked an international reaction on Friday, with US President Donald Trump’s right-wing government condemning what it called “terrorism” in France.
On Friday, Sarah Rogers, the U.S. State Department’s deputy secretary for public diplomacy, said DeRank’s killing showed “why we treat political violence, or terrorism, so harshly.”
“If you decide to kill people for their opinions instead of convincing them, you have opted out of civilization,” she wrote to X.
“The violent radical left is on the rise, and its role in the death of Quentin Delanque illustrates the threat it poses to public safety,” the State Department’s Counterterrorism Bureau separately posted, which was shared in French by a U.S. embassy account.
feud with italy
Mr. Delanque’s killing also sparked a diplomatic feud between France and Italy, whose right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is friendly with Mr. Trump.
She called Delanque’s murder “a wound for all of Europe” and criticized President Macron for speaking out about France’s internal affairs.
Six men suspected of being involved in the deadly assault were charged with murder, and a parliamentary assistant to a far-left lawmaker was also charged with conspiracy.
